Ming Polychrome Porcelains

A Ming polychrome jar, Jiajing mark and period, 1522-1566
Copyright Parvum Opus.

As part of the series of paintings for our Parvum Opus 2013 desk calendar, I chose to paint a portrait of this stunning Ming jar for the month of May. It was irresistible with those charming fish swimming around the perimeter, and the vibrant range of colors. Given the beautiful fish, a cheerful bunch of sunflowers seemed just the thing. This piece, nearly 500 years old, was created during the reign of the Jiajing Emperor, the 11th of the Ming Dynasty. Although his era name means "admirable tranquility," Wikipedia describes him as a ruthless leader whose neglect of his official duties led to the dynasty's decline. 

The Jiajing emperor aboard his state barge, from a scroll by an
unknown Ming artist, ca. 1538. Via Wikipedia.

I came across this very short but informative article about the history of multi-colored Chinese porcelains while visiting the British Museum website, a favorite online haunt. Courtesy of the British Museum: "The term 'overglaze enamels' is used to describe enamel decoration on the surface of a glaze which has already been fired. Once painted, the piece would be fired a second time, usually at a lower temperature. The first use of overglaze enamelling is found on the slip-covered wares of northern China. This was an innovation of the Jin dynasty (1115-1234), with documented pieces as early as 1201. These were utilitarian wares, not for imperial use. Under the emperors of the Ming (1368-1644) and the Qing (1644-1911) dynasty, the various techniques of overglaze enamelling reached their heights at the manufacturing centre in Jingdezhen.

Cizhou ware ceramic pillow, late 11th early 12th century.
Courtesy of the British Museum.

The article continues: "The most highly prized technique is known as doucai ('joined' or 'contrasted' colours), first produced under the Ming emperor Xuande (1426-35), but more usually associated with Chenghua (1465-87). Cobalt was used under the glaze to paint the outlines and areas of blue wash needed in the design. The piece was then glazed and fired at a high temperature. Overglaze colours were painted on to fill in the design. The piece was then fired again at a lower temperature.

From the British Museum: a Doucai Jar, 1465-87, Chenghua period

Lastly, the British Museum article describes the piece in my illustration:"Wucai wares, meaning 'five colours', were also developed in the Ming dynasty. A full palette of polychrome enamels or mixed colours is used. These pieces tend to be larger than doucai wares, with stronger colours, more intricate designs, and very little white showing. The best-known wucai wares are from the reign of Wanli (1573-1620). There were also important developments under the Qing dynasty. Famille rose (pink), jaune (yellow),noire (black) and verte (green) were overglaze enamel-decorated porcelains made from the Kangxi period (1662-1722) and later."

Very similar to the jar in my calendar illustration, this piece is
also Jiajing period. Courtesy of the British Museum.

I hope you'll agree that the development of this art form, with artisans' experimentation spread over a millennium, never ceases to amaze. 

New at the Bindery: Handmade Accordion Files

One of our new small accordion files made with Japanese Chiyogami paper covers.
Click here to see more details at the P.O. online shop.
Copyright Parvum Opus, LLC

It's been a cheerfully busy winter at the bindery, and I thought I'd share some of the new projects we've been working on for our clientele in whom we find continuing inspiration. Our new handmade accordion files have proven to be quite popular with wedding/event planners, interior designers and artistic people who want every detail of their home and office to be both functional and special. 

A small 12-pocket accordion file with marbled paper covers and 2-tone geranium pockets.Click here to see more details at the P.O. online shop.
Copyright Parvum Opus, LLC

The files shown below measure 9.5" x 7" (medium) and 4.5" x 6.5" (small), with larger files also available. Since adding these colorful and useful pieces to our permanent repertoire, we have been pleasantly surprised by the positive response.

Small and medium 6- and 12-pocket accordion files in cheerful colors.Click here to see more details at the P.O. online shop.
Copyright Parvum Opus, LLC

Like everything we do, our files are made to order using all archival materials, so they're perfect for storing everything from bills, take away menus and receipts to precious photographs or love letters. To label the file pockets, we suggest "Post-it Durable File Tabs," which are easily removable. At the bindery, we stock a palette of twelve beautiful papers from Japan, France and Italy which we use for the file covers as shown here. 

A medium 6-pocket file with lovely turquoise Florentine paper covers.
Click here to see more details at the P.O. online shop.
Copyright Parvum Opus, LLC

Accordion files can be made in most any custom size, with pockets in a rainbow of colors. I have to say, it's such fun to make the individual pockets in alternating colors, gather them up into an accordion, and finally see them fanned out in all their 'springy' glory. We thoroughly  enjoy working with these exquisite materials, and just seeing their lovely colors assures me that spring is definitely on the way.

A medium 12-pocket file with fresh green and ivory Florentine paper.
Click here to see more details at the P.O. online shop.
Copyright Parvum Opus, LLC

Marbled Paper

Hand marbled paper designs by Jemma Lewis in Wiltshire.
To see more of Ms. Lewis' beautiful work, click here.

Marbled paper designs by Leah of Art on Water in Ottawa.
To see more of Leah's wonderful work, click here.

One of the joys of running our bindery is working with exquisitely handmade papers like those shown above. There are very few artists who choose to work in this medium in the traditional way, as it requires a great deal of study and practice to achieve results as exquisite and consistent as those pictured here. Each sheet of marbled paper is unique, and while it's made according to traditional patterns and methods, it bears the signature mark of its maker. 

Marbled paper has a history as intricate and involved as its color patterns. According to Wikipedia,  "墨流し suminagashi, which means "floating ink" in Japanese is the oldest method of decorative paper made with floating colors that is known today. Author Einen Miura states that the oldest reference to suminagashi papers are in the waka poems of Shigeharu, (825-880 CE)."

A fan-shaped booklet of the Lotus Sutra, Vol. 8, 12th century Japan, with suminagashi decoration.
Via Wikipedia.

As long ago as 986 CE, a process of aqueous surface printing was described in a Chinese compilation  entitled 文房四谱 Wen Fang Si Pu or "Four Treasures of the Scholar's Study" edited by the 10th century scholar-official, 蘇易簡 Su Yijian (957-995 CE). 

In the fifteenth century, artisans in Central Asia developed a technique of floating inks on the surface of a viscous liquid made using various plant materials. Workshops in Safavid Persia, Ottoman Turkey and the Mughal and Deccan Sultanates in India produced  beautiful designs, but it's unknown whether these artisans were aware of the Chinese and Japanese techniques that preceded them. 

A verse from the Qur'an (14:7), written on marbled paper, consistent with other examples
from around the16th century. Via Wikipedia.

Two hundred years later, Europeans travelled to Central Asia and collected examples of these papers and bound in books, forming alba amicorum, or books of friendship-- can you imagine how impressive it must have been for these lucky few to see and collect such beautiful papers? Eventually, the techniques for producing the beautiful marbled designs arrived in Europe, where they were produced for use in book covers and end papers, just as we use them today. 

Tools of the trade: from l'Encyclopedie of Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alembert. Vol. IV p. 275-6 (1768).

                                                             Via Wikipedia.

For me, the most interesting thing about these papers is their seemingly magical manufacture, so I invite you to enjoy these short videos, chronicling some very talented marbling artists from around the world. The first is a short history of the various techniques described above, and the following videos feature three very different but equally talented artists at work.  

                                          

Chinoiserie

A French chinoiserie inkwell, ca. 1880 April's painting for the
Parvum Opus 2013 desk calendar

Happy Valentine's Day All! Today, in honor of the day, I'm sharing the painting I did for the month of April in the Parvum Opus 2013 desk calendar along with several other Valentine-hued chinoiserie pieces. April's painting features a 19th century French chinoiserie inkwell of painted metal, or tole, with beaded gilt metal fittings.  As you can see in my illustration, this inkwell is a bit on the shabby side, with some chipping to the paint and dents to the fittings.... But that color! I simply couldn't resist including it in this year's collection, and from what I hear so far, many of our clients have chosen it as their favorite.  

A  similar 19th Century French inkwell, with smooth gilt fittings,
recently sold on 1stdibs

In the preface to her inspiring book, Chinoiserie (Phaidon, 1993), Dawn Jacobson writes:

"Chinoiserie is an oddity. It is a wholly European style whose inspiration is entirely oriental. True chinoiseries are not pallid or incompetent imitations of Chinese objects. They are tangible and solid realizations in the West of a land of the imagination: an exotic, remote country, fabled for its riches, that through the centuries remained cloud-wrapped, obstinately refusing to allow more than a few foreigners beyond its gates."

A French chinoiserie inkstand by the same maker as the inkwell in my painting,
from Susan Silver Antiques

Ms. Jacobson continues: " Those few travellers to make the long voyage to Cathay, as China was known in the Middle Ages, returned with tales that surpassed the imaginings of their fascinated audience in Europe. This fanciful vision of a quasi-mythical land was fuelled by the inimitable nature of those few objects brought to the West by the returning adventurers who had penetrated Cathay's mysteries. The notion that China was a land unlike any other, inhabited by people  whose manners and conduct were unknown elsewhere, found fertile soil in the western mind. In the seventeenth century, evidence of the Orient's prodigious wealth buttressed western imaginations. Porcelain, lacquer, ivory and silk, unloaded from the great ships of the East India Companies, filled the wharfs and warehouses of Europe's maritime powers." 

An English red lacquer chinoiserie chest, 1850-1900,
from Susan Silver Antiques

"To meet the growing demand for Eastern imports, inventive artists and craftsmen from all over Europe began to produce their own alternatives--chinoiseries-- which while evoking the products of China did not imitate them. Indeed the means of imitation were not at hand. So pottery factories throughout Europe strove to produce versions of blue-and-white Ming porcelains, local 'japanners' lacquered furniture with wayward designs, English needlewomen reproduced the Indian Tree of Life design in crewel embroideries, and imaginative tapestry makers represented the life of the Chinese emperor. The taste for chinoiserie became ubiquitous and affected every area of the decorative arts from complete interiors to needle-cases..." 

An English lacquer tea trolley, ca. 1880,

from Susan Silver Antiques

"In the nineteenth [century], chinoiserie's high point was furnished by the Prince Regent's Royal Pavilion at Brighton, and the adoption of a new style by the new middle classes invigorated and extended its role."

The Banqueting Room at the Royal Pavilion,
from John Nash's Views of the Royal Pavilion, 1826

"Chinoiserie continues to flourish. Its ability to bob along with the changing tides of fashion has made it an abiding, if often unrecognized leitmotif in the design of everyday objects. When we drink tea from a blue-and-white china cup, choose paeonies and plum-blossom to flower on our curtains, or conceal the television behind a lacquered screen, we are its unconscious heirs, followers of the passion for the arts of China that consumed the West for hundreds of years and led its artists and craftsmen in an exhilarating pursuit of its charms."

If, like me, you can't get enough of the exhilarating pursuit, you may enjoy perusing Ms. Jacobson's thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated book...and don't forget the tea, of course!

The Glass Flowers by R. & L. Blaschka at Harvard's Natural History Museum

Panicum boreale: Panic Grass by Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka
Photograph by Hillel Burger,courtesy The Botanical Museum, Harvard University. 

Remember, no matter what your eyes may tell you, they are not real. 

They are made of glass. From a taped tour of the Ware Collection


Tucked away in the Natural History Museum at Harvard is a cultural treasure: several thousand exquisite flower specimens, perfectly correct in every detail, blown from glass by Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka. The story of how these masterpieces of artistic and scientific observation came to be is as fascinating as the pieces themselves. German glass artists Leopold Blaschka (1822-1895) and his son Rudolf (1857-1939) came from a long line of glassblowers. When asked by an incredulous admirer and patron of their work if they had invented specialized tools or new technologies to produce such miracles of craft, Leopold replied:

"Many people think that we have some secret apparatus by which we can squeeze glass suddenly into these forms, but it is not so. We have tact. My son Rudolf has more than I have, because he is my son, and tact increases in every generation. The only way to become a glass modeler of skill, I have often said to people, is to get a good great-grandfather who loved glass; then he is to have a son with like tastes; he is to be your grandfather. He in turn will have a son who must, as your father, be passionately fond of glass. You, as his son, can then try your hand, and it is your own fault if you do not succeed. But, if you do not have such ancestors, it is not your fault. My grandfather was the most widely known glassworker in Bohemia, and he lived to be eighty-three years of age. My father was about as old, and Rudolf hopes my hand will be steady for many years yet. I am now between sixty and seventy and very young; am I not, Rudolf?"(Leopold Blaschka in a letter to Mary Lee Ware, 1889
)

Echinocereus engelmannii: cactus family by Leopold and
Rudolf Blaschka. Photo by Hillel Burger, courtesy The Botanical Museum, Harvard University.

The following is excerpted from "The Glass Flowers at Harvard" by Richard Evans Schultes and William A. Davis:

"The truth, then, is that no secret process ever went into the manufacture of the models. All the techniques employed were known to glassworkers of the period. The only difference was the combination in one individual of the meticulous skill unmatched patience, accurate observation, and deep love of the subject that the two Blaschkas brought to all of their work. These models have been described as "an artistic marvel in the field of science and a scientific marvel in the field of art – certainly a more apt observation would be difficult to imagine."

A Blaschka Iris, with buds and faded blooms.
Photo by Hillel Burger, courtesy The Botanical Museum, Harvard University.

"On April 16, 1890, father and son glass artists Leopold and Rudolph Blaschka signed a ten-year agreement to make plant models exclusively for Harvard University. This relationship with Harvard would ultimately span a half century and culminate in one of the most unique and breathtakingly beautiful collections ever created."

Malus pumila Emperor Alexander Apple (affected by apple scab disease), 1932.
Rudolf Blaschka. Photo by Hillel Burger,Courtesy The Botanical Museum, Harvard University.

"The Glass Flowers collection was commissioned by Harvard Botanical Museum Director George Goodale and financed by Boston residents Elizabeth C. and Mary Lee Ware. The Ware Collection of Glass Models of Plants, as it is officially known, consists of 4,400 models that replicate the tiniest details of plant anatomy with astounding precision."

 Nepenthes Sanguinea: Flytrap,
 by Rudolf Blaschka. Photo Hillel Burger, 
courtesy The Botanical Museum, Harvard University.

These works, so beautifully preserving the ephemeral, have been described as   masterpieces, works of art, scientific marvels, and as physical equivalents of Mozart's compositions. The poet Mark Doty described them in this way:

He’s built a perfection out of hunger,

fused layer upon layer, swirled until

what can’t be tasted, won’t yield,

almost satisfies, an art

mouthed to the shape of how soft things are,

how good, before they disappear. 

-Mark Doty, “The Ware Collection of Glass 
Flowers and Fruit, Harvard Museum,” in 
My Alexandria, 1993 

If you'd care to learn more about these fascinating artists and their works, I've included 2 videos here.  The first, from the Corning Museum of Glass, concerns the Blaschkas' lives and their work: http://youtu.be/rHOx5H5vNx4

The second video is a YouTube tour of the Ware Collection with close views of many of the specimens. Enjoy! http://youtu.be/RZZffuyUIKQ

A Selection of Charming Paper Knives

A few of the antique tools currently in use on my desks, top to bottom:
a 19th century continental sterling letter opener/bookmark  given to me
by my dear husband last Christmas,
a 19th century coin silver pen knife, engraved "Willie" on one side of the blade and "Mamie" on the other,
 a second coin silver pen knife chased with a rose pattern and beaded edging
and lastly, a shortened  but well-loved Clan Stuart Tartanware page turner.

I love to collect objects that are not only beautiful but useful in daily life as well. Today, I've gathered a collection of paper knives and letter openers for you. In days past, these tools were used to open envelopes and slit the uncut pages of books. While books are generally made with clean, trimmed pages these days (I for one am still happy to bind books in the old way-- I love the deckled effect of pages slit by hand after binding...), a beautiful letter opener or paper knife still has a useful place on an elegant desk. 

An early 20th century  gold-mounted jadeite paper knife, attributed to Faberge.
Because of their lovely fitted boxes, many of Faberge's objets d'art have survived
a century or more in perfect condition. 

A fabulous English sterling and tortoiseshell paper knife from Asprey. This
multi-purpose tool can be used as a page turner, paper knife, letter opener and has a perpetual calendar fitted in the handle--wonderful!

The everyday task of opening envelopes can be swiftly and satisfyingly accomplished by a number of antique desk tools intended for alternative purposes. Page turners were designed to help cultivated newspaper readers avoid ink stained fingers. But with their very long and delicate blades, they often survive in a shortened state, making them perfect for the task of opening envelopes.

A diminutive Victorian silver paper knife with a chain that would have allowed
it to be hung from a chatelaine.

Victorian mother of pearl and tortoiseshell paper knife,.
Image courtesy of Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery

An early 20th century  McBeth Tartanware pen knife 

Early pen knives were used to trim quills, and are similar in design to more modern multi-purpose folding knives like the one above.  Both make excellent desk companions.

A second Russian paper knife with Faberge and Nicola Schepelew marks.
 This one features a jadeite blade, white guilloché enamelwork, 
and the Russian double-headed eagle coat of arms.
I especially love the beautiful gold swan head at the end.

And now for something completely different:  Charles Dickens' eccentric
paper knife, with an ivory blade and a handle made from his beloved cat's paw.
The blade is engraved: "C. D. In Memory of Bob 1862" the year of Bob's death.

I do hope you'll enjoy hunting for similar tools which are easily found in antiques shops, auction houses and on the internet. William Morris famously said, "Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful." A meticulously crafted paper knife or letter opener is a joy to look at and to use, and is a perfect opportunity to put Morris' sage advice into action. 

Treasured Books, No. 2: Clifton Fadiman's "Reading I've Liked"

My collection of books by Clifton Fadiman and his daughter, Anne Fadiman live
on my coffee table, ready for perusal the moment the fire is lit. You may notice I have 2 copies
 of "Party of One": recently,I found a copy inscribed by the author, but couldn't bear to
part with my older, well-thumbed and annotated volume...perfectly logical.

 

“And now we welcome the new year, 

full of things that have never been.” 

R.M. Rilke

                                                                                       

Happy New Year, Everyone!

I hope the holidays were wonderful for you all. We had a fantastic holiday season at the bindery and send our thanks to our lovely clientele with hopes that you all will enjoy your pieces for many years to come. After a week of family, friends and time in my favorite reading chair, I'm back with you, invigorated and ready for the adventures of  the new year. 

In these Treasured Books posts, I have the great pleasure of sharing some of my favorite books and authors, all of whom continue to surprise and delight me, and I hope, will do so for you. What better way to begin a new year than with an old friend, an author whose companionship I've enjoyed for many years. I came to know of Clifton Fadiman through the excellent writing of his daughter, the essayist Anne Fadiman. One day, while having a browse in a used book shop, I saw the familiar surname on the spine of a book entitled, "Reading I've Liked: A Personal Selection Drawn from Two Decades of Reading and Reviewing Presented with an Informal Prologue and Various Commentaries," by Clifton Fadiman (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1941). How could I resist?! 

Clifton Fadiman was a man of extraordinary erudition, remembered by many for his work on the radio and television during  the 40's and 50's, but he considered himself primarily as a teacher, or as a  guide to the wisdom of other people. He  believed that the most rewarding of leisure activities is: "the cheerful, unaffected but conscious training and exercise of the mind" ("Any Number Can Play," 1957) and wrote bountifully for that audience on subjects ranging from quantum physics, to  George Santayana to cheese.

After all these years, it took a Google search to discover that my dear Mr. Fadiman has a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame... very amusing! If you'd care to see a video of Mr. Fadiman at work,
visit the Encyclopaedia Britannica website (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/200119/Clifton-Fadiman), where they have posted many videos of classes on literature and the humanities
he recorded for the Britannica. They are of their time and very charming. 

In "Reading I've Liked," Mr. Fadiman introduces us to examples of writing culled from his work as a book reviewer for the New Yorker, with each piece introduced with a generous and beautifully constructed essay describing it. One of the things I enjoy most about reading his work is that he is absolutely dedicated to excellence and fine craft in writing, and is of a time before post-post-modernism and bricolage that was unafraid of assessing the quality of a work of art. His superbly well-formed opinions are shared sincerely, clearly and convincingly. Although one may find a passage here or there that feels dated or exclusionary by our contemporary standards, the more common experience is one of awe in the startling prescience of his views on contemporary life.

Mr. Fadiman received the 1993 National Book Foundation's 
Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters
at The National Book Awards Ceremony.

In the introductory essay to "Reading I've Liked", entitled "My Life is an Open Book: Confessions and Digressions of an Incurable," Mr. Fadiman writes: “It happens that you will find in this book biographies, anecdotes, brief fiction, semilong fiction, excerpts from novels, sketches, essays (both familiar and formal), a book review, humorous pieces (including one complete book of humor), excerpts from a dictionary, a judicial decision, reflections of nature, a long letter, an excerpt from a speech, and a collection of epigrams.” There is one constant among all these pieces, he writes: “I believe everything you will read here, if the product of hands other than my own, is of its kind extremely well written.” 

This is one of those wonderful, classic books that lends itself to rereading, along with so many other of Mr. Fadiman's works. He famously said, "when you reread a classic, you do not see more in the book than you did before, you see more in you than there was before," and I  enthusiastically agree. On these cold, snowy evenings, it's one of my great pleasures to open any of them up to a random section, and sit by the fire with my old friend. I believe that if you come by any of his works, (not such a difficult task thanks to Amazon and ABE Books), you'll be similarly rewarded. 

Clifton Fadiman, 1904-1999